For many years, composite photographic prints have been available which combine a primary, conventional photographic image with a secondary, adjacent image including a text or logo, or both, appropriate to the primary image. For example, primary images of individuals or groups have been combined with secondary images of holiday greetings or other sentiments. Or, a primary image of an individual has been combined with a secondary image of business information in a format of a business calling card. Numerous such composite photographs have become known. See FIG. 3, which will be discussed subsequently in this specification.
Apparatus for producing composite photographs are of various types. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,769,678; 4,857,964; and 4,963,919 disclose apparatus in which negatives of a primary image and a secondary image are sequentially or simultaneously positioned at a negative film print gate and then exposed by projection onto photographic paper. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,337,119 and 5,430,523 disclose another approach in which a primary image is exposed by projection onto photographic paper at a first paper print gate and a secondary image is exposed at a second paper print gate by a linear light valve array.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,684 discloses a photographic printing apparatus suitable for darkroom use, in which a contact print slide is illuminated at a paper print gate to provide a secondary image. U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,186 discloses a photographic printer in which a paper print gate is provided with a plurality of contact print heads along different edges of an exposure mask, with one of the print heads being illuminated depending on the orientation of a primary image. U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,308 discloses a paper mask unit for a photographic printer in which interchangeable slides each include a fixed aperture for masking a primary image, plus an adjacent text aperture for a secondary image.
FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a high speed photographic printer 10, such as a Model CLAS III made by Eastman Kodak Company. A film supply reel 12 supports a wound strip 14 made up of spliced, processed filmstrips. As images on strip 14 are sequentially projected onto photographic paper, a take-up reel 16 is rotated to take up the strip. Between reels 12, 16, a negative filmstrip print gate 18 flattens and supports each image on the strip before an illumination source 20. In the familiar manner, light from source 20 passes through each image, through an adjustable iris 22 and through a projection lens system 24 including a fixed lens element 26 and a movable lens element 28. Spaced from lens system 24, a paper supply roll 30 is rotated to provide a continuous strip 32 of photographic paper onto which images are to be exposed. As images are sequentially projected onto the photographic paper, a paper take-up roll 34 is rotated to take up the paper. Between rolls 30, 34, a paper print gate 36 flattens and supports the paper during exposure.
To determine proper exposure conditions for each image and, if appropriate, to detect images with different sizes or aspect ratios or to determine orientation of individual images, a conventional electronic image scanner 38 may be included. To read information magnetically recorded on a filmstrip, a magnetic read head 40 may be included. Also, to read information optically recorded on a filmstrip, an optical read head 42 may be included. A programmable controller 44 is connected to drive systems, not shown, for the strip 14 and paper 32; and to control circuits, not shown, for scanner 38 and read heads 40, 42. Thus, in the familiar manner, each image is scanned and any associated magnetic or optical codes are read as the image moves to filmstrip print gate 18. The illumination system, iris and lens system are then adjusted as appropriate to expose the image properly onto the photographic paper.
Such printers may include automatically adjustable edge masks for providing borders on prints or for making prints with different sizes or aspect ratios. For example, a pair of adjustable parallel edge masks 46, only one being shown, may be provided at paper print gate 36 along opposite edges of the paper, parallel to a longitudinal direction of movement of the paper through the paper print gate. Similarly, a pair of adjustable transverse edge masks 48, 50 also may be included, which extend normal to the direction of movement of the paper along opposite, transverse edges of the paper print gate. In the CLAS III printer, only masks 48, 50 are provided to set the longitudinal dimension of the opening of the paper print gate. The magnification of lens system 24 of a CLAS III printer is adjusted to cause the projected image to fill the length of the opening along the direction of movement of the paper, while portions of the projected image are allowed to spill over the unmasked parallel edges of the paper.
An edge mask apparatus 48 of the type used in the CLAS III printer is shown in FIG. 2. A similar mask assembly, not shown, also is provided on the opposite side of the paper print gate. A base plate 52 is located below a flat vacuum platen 54 which is supported on the base plate by suitable brackets, not shown. A driver is provided for the mask assembly. Particularly, a lead screw 56 is mounted for rotation parallel to platen 54 on suitable bearing blocks, not shown. Parallel to lead screw 56 are guide rails, such as slide rods 58, 60 mounted on suitable brackets 62, only one of which is shown. A bracket 64, supported by base plate 52, is included to mount a drive motor 66 which drives a timing belt 68 engaged with a pulley, not shown, engaged with lead screw 56. An edge mask support bracket 70 extends beneath platen 54 and is supported on slide rods 58, 60 by a pair of ball slides 72, only one of which is shown. Bracket 70 also is connected to a drive nut, not shown, on lead screw 56. Above platen 54, bracket 70 supports a transverse edge mask plate 74 which passes just above paper 32 to define a transverse edge of the paper print gate. A transverse paper guide 76 also is supported by bracket 70 to guide the paper over the platen. A light shield 78 is supported by a transverse angle bracket 80 mounted on bracket 70. In operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1, motor 66 is operated to rotate lead screw 56 which moves the drive nut and causes bracket 70 and mask plate 74 (and a mask assembly on the opposite side of the print gate) to move as necessary to set a desired length of the opening of the paper print gate.
FIG. 3 shows schematically a type of composite photograph 86 which can be made using the apparatus disclosed in the U.S. patents previously mentioned. A conventional, primary photographic image 88 and an associated secondary image 90 of text or graphics, or both, are exposed onto photographic paper sequentially or simultaneously. The secondary image may be positioned along any edge of the primary image. In high speed, wholesale printers such as the CLAS III, features for making such composite photographs would be desirable, provided the presence of such features would be compatible with normal high speed operation of such wholesale printers.